Weak and Powerless
by squinTfrown
Summary: Jude's frantic, Tommy's panicked, & is Karma somehow behind this? What'll Darius do, backed into a wall, when his two star employees have done some serious damage to the label's rep? Short, maybe a 2shot. Titles are lyrics from the song by a perfect circl
1. So Desperate

Summary: Something happens, and it's not good... Jude's frantic, Tommy's panicked, & is Karma somehow behind this? What'll Darius do, backed into a wall, when his two star employees have done some serious damage to the label's rep? Short, maybe a 2-shot.

Disclaimer: I own none of Instant Star…etc.

Chapter 1

"W-wait… I- I don't unders-tand…" she wasn't looking at anyone but just staring at the ground.

"_God I wish she'd stop pacing like that…" _Tommy thought to himself as he stood there, feeling completely helpless.

"Jude, please…" Tommy carefully took a step toward her, "Not here, okay?"

"_Everyone's just watching us…They're not even trying to hide it! Just blatantly staring!" _

She whirled around to look at him in disbelief.

"Come on…" he added, nodding toward Darius's office, "We can talk about it in here…"

"No," she said firmly, "No…"

"_And she's pacing again… This is all my fault… Why in the hell did I have to be so damn stubborn!"_

Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was completely drained of its color, and her hands were shaking alarmingly as she laced and unlaced her fingers around each other.

"_She's going to pass out at this rate…"_

"Jude," he said as he crossed over to her, finally unable to stand the distance that was between them.

He grabbed her arm gently to stop her from pacing, and when he did, it pulled her backwards, causing them to collide into each other. They each froze, unable to think.

"_Not the look… Please, Jude, if ever there was a time to __**not**__ give me the look, this was it!"_

He stroked her hair, pushing off of her face, and opened his mouth to speak, praying something would come out.

"Jude…" he spoke in a low and raspy voice, "We have to face this, okay?"

"No…" she sobbed pleadingly, the tears now flowing from her eyes again as she tried to fight them back.

"We _have_ to…" he replied quietly but firmly, "He saw us, Jude… He knows…"

Jude closed her eyes tightly as her knees gave out. Tommy's grip tightened as he felt her body go limp. He pulled her even closer into him which he didn't think possible, and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He moved her over to a nearby chair and set her down in it, bending down in front of her and holding her small, soft hands in his.

"Jude," he whispered, "I love you… Okay? And whatever happens in there, you remember that…"

He grabbed her face and pushed his lips harshly against hers. He heard a few gasps around them, but he didn't care. He was done caring. Where had caring gotten him?

"_I've lost what little respect I had gained from my boss, I'm probably about to lose my job which means I'm losing mine and Jude's music... I have nothing more to lose, but her… And I __**won't**__ let that happen…Ever."_

He pulled away slowly from Jude, and an inch from her face, he stared into her amazing, blue eyes.

"You're mine…" he said after a moment, "Always… right?"

She nodded as tears fell slowly down her cheeks.

"Always…" she repeated in a raspy whisper.

"I love you, girl…" he said firmly as if to convince her.

Jude's eyes widened, and she started to say something, but he gave her a peck on the lips quickly.

He turned and strode over to Darius with a look like an animal backed into a corner.

"We do this alone," he demanded, his voice shaking in anger, "This was all me. I started it… She shouldn't have to face this… But know one thing, D… I don't regret a single damn second."

"In my office," Darius said simply but in a way that would intimidate anyone.

Anyone but Tommy, that is.

He obeyed and walked into the office with Darius right behind him.

Jude, who had been standing there, staring in shock for a moment, noticed everyone's eyes were on her. She saw Sadie with a shocked and confused look, Spied and the boys just looked sympathetic and sad for her, Kwest looked almost as upset as her as he sat with his head in his hands, Patsy was looking like she was going to rip Darius's head off, Jamie had a lot of emotions playing across his face but mostly there was disappointment but Jude knew he would be… he had always hated Tommy… And the next thing her eyes fell on, took her dangerously close to her breaking point. Karma was standing a few feet away from Jamie and Patsy, and she was smirking as if she had never felt such pleasure in her life as she did watching Jude crying hysterically.

Then Karma made a **huge** mistake; she opened her mouth.

"Well, now it makes sense!" the singer commented with a cocky smirk, "She was shacking up with 'Lil Tommy Q'! No wonder she was getting so much… 'studio time'..?"

And that's when Jude lost it.

"Don't- you- _**ever**_- call him- Little- Tommy Q- again," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Aw, sorry… Pet name?" Karma shot back.

"_That's it."_

She lunged at the brunette with a loud yell, knocking her down to the ground. Then Jude's fist came crashing down into Karma's cheek. After looking at Jude in shock and outrage for a moment, she managed to dodge Jude's second swing, and then tried to roll over to gain control, but Jude just slammed her back down roughly against the cement floor.

"Jude…" Tommy's voice spoke from behind her.


	2. Keep Me Level

Chapter 2

She turned to see him and Darius standing outside the door to his office, and Tommy's expression caused her to jump to her feet. He looked shocked and confused, but Darius was just staring stone-faced with his arms crossed.

"Are you going to do something about this?!" Karma shrieked as she stood up.

Tommy had started taking a few steps toward Jude, when Karma decided to test Jude again.

"See, this is what I've been telling you people! She's a freak! And she's _obviously_ unstable!!"

"You little-!" Jude yelled, once again lunging at her, but this time, Tommy caught her.

"Jude, not here, babe!" he said, holding her back while she struggled against him.

"Let me _go_, Quincy!" she said through clenched teeth.

He set her down on her feet and took hold of her shoulders.

"It'll only make things worse for us…" he said quietly, pleading with his eyes that she would just let it go.

She stared back at him for a few more moments, before he felt her shoulders relax and heard a sigh that he knew meant that she was listening to him.

"Okay… Sorry…" she replied quietly, looking at the floor, "Let's get this over with…"

"Wait, where are you two going??" Karma spoke up again, "Darius, are you not going to do something about this?!"

"Karma?" Darius spoke for the first time since he'd been out there.

"Yeah?" she asked sweetly.

"Shut up."

He nodded and took her hand is his as they walked toward Darius's office.

"_Wow…" he thought to himself, "She was ready to seriously fight someone just over something that she knows bothers __**me**__…"_

He gave her hand a comforting squeeze as she looked at him nervously.

As Tommy followed Jude into the room, he closed the door behind him and turned to Jude as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Baby…" he said, wrapping her up as tightly as he could in his protective arms.

"What's going to happen?" she sobbed desperately into his chest.

"I… Really don't know, Jude…" Tommy replied honestly in a weak, quiet voice.

The room was filled with silence for a moment, but it was quickly broken as Darius came through the door, closing it behind him once again. Tommy met eyes with him, and kissed the top of Jude's head before slowly pulling away but kept his arms around her waist to lead her to one of the chairs that sat parallel to Darius' desk.

After squeezing Jude's small hand lightly, he took the seat beside hers, and watched anxiously as Darius stared at the wall, keeping his back to them.

After an excruciatingly long minute, Darius finally turned to the couple and let out a long sigh.

"I really don't know what to do…" he said as he crossed to them, leaning against the front of the desk, "I can't just look the other way on this… You were seen by some very important people… Not to mention a _reporter_…"

Darius rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes, suddenly appearing very tired and worn.

Jude stood, surprising herself, and put a hand on Darius' shoulder to pull him from his thoughts. He let his hand drop and looked over at the newly blonde songstress standing next to him. Even though he'd only known her for a short time and hid it very well, he had a soft spot for Jude.

"I'm sorry…" she spoke softly, looking down, "It's mostly my fault for this… I was the one who kissed him… I shouldn't have done that here…"

She trailed off, and Darius put his hand over hers that was still resting on his shoulder.

"You really are something, you know that?" Darius said with a small laugh.

Jude was taken aback by his action but couldn't stop a small smile from crossing her face.

"Not only did you steal my best producer's heart, somehow pick the absolutely worst time to kiss him that you possibly could, finally shut Karma up for more than two seconds, and let the entire staff know about you and Tom simultaneously…"

"Actually that last one was me…" Tommy replied pausing a moment before letting a smirk cross his face, and Darius let out a small laugh.

After a moment, Darius met eyes with Jude again, "But you also managed to make me remember why you are needed around here so much…"

_Jude's eyes widened in disbelief, "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"_

"You two have really put me in a bind, you know that?" Darius said in a more serious tone, looking between Jude and Tommy, "There's going to have to be some major damage control for us after this…"

"We'll do whatever we need to…" Tommy replied, now also standing.

Darius thought silently for a moment while Jude and Tommy both waited anxiously. Jude's nervousness was more visible, however, as she shifted back and forth a few times from her heels to the balls of her feet.

"I want you both to take the rest of the day off, and when you get back, I'm putting you on probation…" he said to Jude, and then continued to speak, turning to Tommy, "And you… You are temporarily banned from the studio on the days that Jude's working… Kwest will take over between then and now with recording her for now, and you will both mix her songs on the days she's not here…"

Jude's eyes fell to the ground. She was more than glad that they weren't fired, but the thought of not having him to work with killed her.

"I don't want to do this, but I have to…" Darius added, noticing Jude's disappointment, "But… I can't tell you not to work on your music together on your own time…"

Jude's eyes darted back up to Darius's smiling face, then to Tommy who also looked pleased with the conditions.

"What? You think I want you writing with anyone else??" Darius replied to Jude's shocked expression, "Together you're unstoppable, and I'm not one for losing money if I can help it…"

"Thanks, D," Tommy said, resting his hand on Jude's back, "Really… It means a lot to me…"

He nodded in response and the couple began walking toward the door, but as they neared it, Darius called Tommy's name.

"Could I just talk to you alone for a minute longer?"

Tommy nodded before turning and placing a chaste kiss on Jude's cheek.

"Meet me by the car?" he asked with a small hint of a smile.

She smiled and answered with a nod before turning and leaving the two boys to their "man-talk".


End file.
